Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The One With the Almond Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My friend, Allison, had her birthday party last weekend. And so I made her a modified version of the Pink Almond Party Cake. I made a double batch of the cake and then iced it with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting... and here's the recipe, which makes a triple layer cake. I made the inside purple to match her party theme.

Almond Cake:

2 boxes Betty Crocker Extra Moist White Cake Mix

2 1/2 cups water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

6 egg whites

4 teaspoons almond extract

Violet food coloring, plus just a tad of pink to brighten it up.

Prepare your cake pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mixes, water, oil and egg whites, being careful not to over mix. Add almond extract and food coloring. Measure out your cake batter to make sure you use equal amounts in each layer. I believe, for my triple layer cake, I used 4 cups of batter in each layer, with some left over. Bake layers for 23-28 minutes. Let cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes, and then on a wire rack for 1 hour. Once cakes have cooled completely, use a cake leveler to take off the rounded cake top so that the layers will fit together nicely.

Make your icing:

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons milk

1/2 Tablespoons almond extract

3/4 cups cocoa powder

Cream together butter, powdered sugar and 1/2 cup milk, beating on low to incorporate without getting too many air bubbles in the frosting. Add almond extract and cocoa powder. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk only if you need it to make your frosting more workable and smooth.

Put your cake together with the frosting in between each layer. I used Easter M&Ms for the border and edible butterflies by Wilton (available at Joann's or Michael's) for decoration.